The American West
has a strange landscape, one that has been in turmoil for millions of years.
One part of it is stretching, which causes the phenomenon of basin and range.
As the crust stretches it breaks apart. Part goes up, part goes down. Thus
mountain ranges are created, running roughly south to north. In between the
ranges, the land sinks. Those places are the basins.
In Arizona the
mountains are not as tall as the Rockies, but the ranges are far more numerous.
Here in Tucson we are surrounded by mountains with the Tucson range on the
west, the Santa Catalina range on the northeast, the Rincon range on the east,
and the Santa Rita range on the south.
Practically every
building, home or business, has a view of mountains. The Home Depot parking lot
near our houses has a spectacular view of the Santa Catalinas. Our casita faces
the Santa Catalina range, too, but our view of the mountains is marred by a
streetlight, a TV dish, a rooftop swamp cooler, and a utility pole festooned
with old wires.
My view isn’t
ideal, but I love to watch the rosy peaks outside the window as the sun goes
down on one of the shortest days of the year.
Copyright
2015 by Shirley Domer
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